How to Experience Jesus’ Merry Everything Life
A couple of years ago, I purchased a pillow for my front room that declares Merry Everything. I seized it during the after Christmas sales because the colors were more Valentine-like than Christmas-y. I decided it was the perfect mid-winter-pick-me-up décor item.
When I was choosing what to bring to the Farmhouse, I elected to bring the Merry Everything pillow with me. I thought it would infuse the Farmhouse with a bit of Nancy fun. I hoped the pillow would encourage me to feel more at home while I waited for my new house to be built.
Life in Exile
I’m not living in exile, but my experience at the Farmhouse has given me a better understanding of the Israelite’s struggle while in exile. I introduced this idea to you in my previous blog, “God’s Plans Provide a Full Life.” God wanted the Israelites to fully engage in life even while living in exile.
“Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
Jeremiah 29:5-7, NLT
Life is Never on Hold
God basically told the Israelites life is never on hold. He instructed them to put down roots. The Israelites needed to see the larger picture; they needed to grasp the truth that life keeps moving forward. For a season, the Israelites were to view Egypt as home.
How often do you live as if life is on hold? We fall into the trap of putting life on hold more easily than you might think. We put life on hold for a variety of reasons.
For example, we choose not to go out with our girlfriends because we claim to be too tired. We opt out of playing in the pool with our children or grandchildren because we feel uncomfortable in a bathing suit. Some of us don’t have people over to our homes, because we fear we can’t entertain as well as someone else, or our home is not as nice as another friend’s home.
Experience Merry Everything
God’s instructions to the Israelites offer us wisdom as well. God lays out for us how we can fully live and experience Merry Everything. He provides perspective that can keep us from putting life on hold.
Honor God
First, we must honor God by being grateful for the life He provides. The Israelites were commanded to fully engage in life instead of moping and complaining about the dreary state of their circumstance. They were told to “build homes, and plan to stay.”
The Psalmist reminds us in Psalms 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” John tells us in Revelation 4 that God is worthy of being worshiped all the time. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, since you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created!”
We must choose to know God as Sovereign. Regardless of the circumstance of our life, He is always in control. Even though His timing may not look like ours and/or situations may arise that are difficult to manage, He is the author and provider of life. He is the One who gives us breath.
Physical Well-Being
Second, we must care for our physical well-being. God instructed the Israelites to plant gardens so they would have food to eat. God wanted the Israelites to intentionally thrive, not just get by on what they could scrounge up.
We also must choose to do what is best for our physical well-being. I admit I’m not growing a garden, it’s not my thing. However, I do know I must choose to eat vegetables more often than M&Ms, as well as move my body, so I maintain balance and flexibility as I age
Relationships
Third, we are to invest in relationships. God told the Israelites to marry, have children, and then find mates for their children. In addition, the Israelites were to be involved in their community, “…work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile.”
If we want to live a full life, we must create and maintain relationships with family members, church brothers and sisters, and people within our sphere of influence who do not believe as we do. In contrast, we are not to live isolated within our small friend group, as delightful as that can be. God’s instructions challenge us to be influencers in our community.
Allow me to provide a warning. God didn’t tell the Israelites to push their agenda on the Egyptians, instead He counseled them to work for the peace and prosperity of the city where they lived. We must remember all people are made in the image of God, which means each person is created with intelligence, creativity, and a beneficial point of view. Therefore, we are to engage with our community, developing a place where everyone who lives within its boundary flourishes.
Looking Forward
The Israelites looked forward to being rescued from exile. God’s Word reminds us this world is not our home, and so we too look forward to a better future. The difference between the Israelites’ life and ours is we are New Testament people. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has already come and redeemed us. As believers in Christ, we received the Holy Spirit to counsel and guide us moment by moment.
God gives us an additional challenge the Israelites weren’t given. They were to choose to live a full life and hold on for the promised rescue. We are to live fully while also revealing Jesus and the promise He offers.
“And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”
Matthew 10:38-39, NET
A Merry Everything Life
If we want to live a full life, we must give everything we have, everything we are, to Jesus. As Christ’s disciples, we live as Jesus would live, allowing Him to determine what our lives look like. In exchange, God Almighty provides a full life, a Merry Everything life, because everything is about Him, and for Him.
We must fill our everyday life with the necessary actions of providing for our physical well-being, and establishing roots where we live. In addition, we care for the people who live within our community, influencing them to see the greater life that is found in Jesus Christ. Seize the moments Jesus gives you today to honor Him and reveal Him. May you flourish within His Merry Everything life.
This really spoke to me! We are going through a transition period in our life and I am clinging to no fear; God has this!
Thank you for the insight!